About

In 2015 we brought our first ever tabletop roleplaying project, Valor: the Heroic Tabletop System, to Kickstarter, and the response was tremendous. With the core rulebook released, we have turned our attention to the next major book, Valor: Villains, Creatures and Foes. This expansion will give Game Masters a huge array of enemies and rivals to throw at their party and make the game that much easier to run and play.

"I think [the game’s] particular take on finding a middle ground between "indy" storytelling and "trad" RPG game design is a valid and playable one." — Jason Walters- General Manager, Indie Press Revolution

"Valor - if you ever wanted D&D 4e to ditch most D&Disms for Final Fantasy and Anime." — Doresh, Fatal and Friends

Valor is a tabletop roleplaying game based on high action and customization. Drawing inspiration from anime, video games, comic books and action movies, Valor lets players create characters that are only limited by their imagination. Using an array of five core attributes, players can fully customize their characters with a wide array of unique skills and a modular Technique system that lets them custom create their own spells and special attacks, the end result being that no two Valor characters are ever the same.

The first chapter, which details all of the core mechanics for playing the game, is available to download for free.

How Do You Play Valor?

Like most traditional roleplaying games, Valor is played around a table with around three to six other players. One player takes on the role of the Game Master (GM) and creates all of the scenarios, encounters, and the plot of the game, while the players take on a singular character that they build themselves. Valor uses a grid map for combat (either hex or square) to track character position and the effects of Techniques, and uses a single 10-sided die (d10) to determine the results. In Valor, when one character is attempting to do something, they will roll a d10 and the defender will counter with their own d10 roll, with the higher result being the winner of that particular conflict.

Valor also encourages and rewards active roleplaying, players who roleplay their characters well with great descriptive language and in-character action will be rewarded, gaining resources they can use to boost their roll results or use a number of additional powerful abilities.

What Can You Do with Valor?

With Valor, you can create just about any kind of character you can imagine. The Technique system allows players to select a single core function such as damage or healing, and customize it by making either the core function more powerful or by attaching special modifiers that give it special effects such as range or area of effect. All Techniques cost Stamina, and that cost can be reduced by further attaching Limits to the Techniques that make them harder to use. By adding things such as a turn limit before the Technique can be used again or a set number of uses per scene. Using Techniques, you can customize your character's personal style and abilities to be uniquely their own.

Valor also allows players to use their roleplaying ability to affect their results. Not only are players rewarded for strong roleplay, during Challenge scenes where combat isn't present or the key factor, the strength of their described action can have a real effect on the end result, giving them bonuses or penalties based on how strong the proposed action is. The purpose of Valor is to allow players to fully realize whatever kind of character they wish to play, and make playing that character an engaging, rewarding experience.

Valor: Villains, Creatures and Foes will contain 160 uniquely designed Foes to challenge any party from levels 1 to 20. It will additionally introduce new rules, skills, and abilities for both the GM and the players to use. All Foes will have special Behaviors that will help a GM determine how they act and why they do what they do to help them create interesting and memorable scenes.

The book includes over 60 new Flaws, Skills and Technique Modifiers to further customize Foes, with many of the new abilities being accessible to players as well. The book also introduces special Trait skills that allow you to apply special abilities to Foes that have characteristics such as being Undead or aligned with a specific Element.

All Kickstarter backers will get an exclusive set of 10 Foes that will only be made available to them. Additionally, they’ll have the opportunity to submit suggestions for and vote on what some of these Foes will be. These Foes will not appear in the printed book, but will instead be shipped as an insert for all backers.

EARLY ACCESS

We have completed all of the core Foes for the book already and are in the process of editing them, adding flavor text and formatting them. As the formatting is completed, we will be releasing beta copies of the book throughout the production cycle so you can use the Foes right away!

KICKSTARTER ONLY FOES

At the end of the campaign, we will release a full list of all the Foes that are going to be included in the book. Once the list is released, we will be releasing a form for Backers who backed to at least the Soldier Tier to submit other Foes they’d like to see. We will accept submissions for creatures of myth, urban legends, and other simple concept but interesting Foes (such as, for example, a Spider Dragon). Based on the list, we will pick our favorites and send them out in a poll for all Backers to vote on. The top choices will be included in the book as bonus Kickstarter-exclusive content. Depending on the goals we reach, there may be other Foes as well that will be included that were not part of the voting process, but we will strive to include as many community favorites as we can.

FORGER AND DEITY TIERS

If you back at either of these tiers, we will build a custom Foe just for you! We will contact you after the campaign ends and work with you to get an idea of the kind of Foe you’d like to see built – if you are backing at the Deity Tier we will also work with one of our artists (who you may personally select if you are a fan of any of our artists) to bring that Foe to life in a drawing. The Foe will be shipped to you in both digital format and as a printed insert with your copy of the book.

We are unfortunately unable to accept requests for Foes that are under another company’s Trademark or Copyright. Additionally, we cannot accept Foes that are overly grotesque or sexual in nature. The Foe (and art, if applicable) will be yours to use as you please, but neither the Foe nor the artwork is eligible for resale.

FOR NEW PLAYERS WHO WANT THE GAME

We’ve made all rewards available in two different tiers, one for those who already own the core book, and one for those who do not and would like a core rulebook in addition to the new book. We will be shipping the copies of the core book as soon as the Kickstarter completes. So if you have not played Valor before, now is the perfect time to jump on board.

With the overwhelming success of our previous Kickstarter, we were able to release a hardcover print copy of the core rule book. With that in mind, our intent is to aim for a hardcover release for Villains, Creatures and Foes, which is reflected in our budget.

$10,000 is a very ambitious goal for a tabletop roleplaying book, and this is especially true of an expansion. Using the core rulebook as our standard for art and production, this much would guarantee a single print run of this expansion book, as well as cover production and delivery of the various Kickstarter rewards to our backers.

You may ask why our art and design budget are so low. This is because, much like with the core rulebook, we will be funding much of the artwork and design work. Should we exceed our goal, any excess funds will be going to art and design, as well as distribution of rewards.

Risks and challenges

The core content of the book is already completed, what is required are layouts, editing, flavor text, and art. As before, this book has been primarily self-funded and we are doing the same this time, especially with regards to the art which we are covering with our own money. We have the means to fund this book to completion A successful Kickstarter puts us in a much better position to release the book faster, as well as provide beta test content to backers early and help us tighten up balance on the Foes.

When we first Kickstarted Valor, we were able to successfully meet the eBook release estimate, but unfortunately fell short of the hardcover date. This time, we are being intentionally conservative with our release figures - the ultimate release of the Valor book was met with high praise for the quality and that is something we want to repeat for all Valor releases. We have shown we can do this, and we're ready to do it again.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 35 or more
About US$ 35

THE SOLDIER

Get a PDF and Hardcover of Valor: Villains, Creatures and Foes, as well as exclusive Kickstarter content and early beta test release access. Voters at this tier can submit suggestions for and vote on bonus content.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 45 or more
About US$ 45

THE ELITE

Get a PDF and Hardcover of Valor: Villains, Creatures and Foes, a Valor bag to carry your game equipment in, and exclusive Kickstarter content and early beta test release access. Voters at this tier can submit suggestions for and vote on bonus content.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 75 or more
About US$ 75

THE SWARM

Get a PDF and Hardcover of Valor: Creatures, Villains and Foes and Valor: the Heroic Tabletop Roleplay System, as well as exclusive Kickstarter content and early beta test release access. Voters at this tier can submit suggestions for and vote on bonus content.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 90 or more
About US$ 90

THE MASTER

Get a PDF and Hardcover of Valor: Creatures, Villains and Foes and Valor: the Heroic Tabletop Roleplay System, a Valor bag to carry your game equipment in, and exclusive Kickstarter content and early beta test release access. Voters at this tier can submit suggestions for and vote on bonus content.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 100 or more
About US$ 100

THE SHOPKEEP SPECIAL

An exclusive tier for brick and mortar game stores! Get 3 copies of Valor: Villains Creatures and Foes and 3 copies of Valor: the Heroic Tabletop system at consignment rate. Valor: the Heroic Tabletop System will ship immediately. You may add more books to your order after the Kickstarter if desired. Verification of address and store email will be required to receive rewards for this tier, if verification cannot be provided we will bump you to the single eBook and Hardcover tier.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 200 or more
About US$ 200

THE FORGER

You can submit a Foe to us and we will make a unique statblock for it. Foes submitted in this tier are not guaranteed to have artwork included. You also get a PDF and Hardcover of Valor: Creatures, Villains and Foes and Valor: the Heroic Tabletop Roleplay System, a Valor bag to carry your game equipment in, and exclusive Kickstarter content and early beta test release access. Voters at this tier can submit suggestions for and vote on bonus content.

Please note: We cannot accept any Foes that are overly grotesque or sexual in nature.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 475 or more
About US$ 475

THE DEITY

You can submit a Foe to us and we will make a unique statblock for it. Your Foe will have custom artwork created to appear beside it in the book. You also get a print of the artwork for your creature, a PDF and Hardcover of Valor: Creatures, Villains and Foes and Valor: the Heroic Tabletop Roleplay System, a Valor bag to carry your game equipment in, and exclusive Kickstarter content and early beta test release access. Voters at this tier can submit suggestions for and vote on bonus content.

Please note: We cannot accept any Foes that are overly grotesque or sexual in nature.